Canon Wright was brought up in Northumberland

The new Bishop of Durham has warned Tony Blair against turning the West's attempts to disarm Saddam Hussein into a "crusade".

The Reverend Canon Dr Nicholas Thomas Wright has been named as the successor to the Right Reverend Michael Turnbull.

He said: "I do think the question of war in Iraq is one that has to be addressed by Christians.

"The only two high-profile Christian leaders in the West are trying to persuade others to go to war, and there is a danger of this looking like a crusade.

"There is a danger of making war against an area of the world that is predominantly Muslim.

"Already Osama Bin Laden has called it a crusade, and that is how is how they are going to see it.

Newcastle fan

"It will be seen as a war on Islam, and however much our leaders say otherwise, people in the Middle East will see its symbolic value.

"Then they will say "let us get back at Christians in return"."

Canon Wright, born in 1948, was brought up in Northumberland and is a life-long supporter of Newcastle United.

He will take over from Bishop Michael when he retires on 30 April.

Canon Wright is married to Maggie, and has four children aged in their 20s.

He was educated at Sedbergh, in Cumbria, and at Oxford University, where he studied for the ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and was ordained as Junior Research Fellow and Junior Chaplain at Merton College.

He has written over 30 books, both at the scholarly level and for a popular audience, and has broadcast regularly on radio and television.